Bachmann, in a rare break from slanderous right-wing hyperbole, decided to push for something practical: highway improvements in her district.Without getting into the debate of public transport vs. more highway lanes etc., I think there's a pretty decent consensus that the improvements she's pushing for are a good idea.

She can't, however, add them to an actual bill. That would make them an earmark, which the GOP has decided are always bad, even if disclosed.

The Democrats campaigned partly on earmark reform after the Abramoff scandals, I believe they helped force disclosure of earmark authors* - if you put an earmark in a bill, you had to put your name next to it. Then when the Democrats took the majority in the House, the Republicans loudly complained that there were still earmarks. It's the sort of gross simplification of issues that are all-too-common; e.g., the argument that climate change isn't caused by man-made pollution becomes "there is no climate change and the earth is not warming".

So, we get "no earmarks ever, Dems said they were bad but still had them, and now watch us - no earmarks ever, ever, ever". This was largely directed by the Tea Party, led partly by Michelle Bachmann.

Hence, the one non-ideological, non-hyperpartisan issue she pushes for, she can't actually ask for in legislation because of ideological, hyperpartisan concerns.

*can't remember if the Republicans passed it while trying to retain the House or if the Dems did it after taking it over, either way it wasn't a priority before the Republicans found themselves in trouble following the Abramoff scandal

"Bachmann committed no major gaffe to lose that lead, no revelation of old affairs, like Herman Cain, or inability to debate well, like Rick Perry," says Joel Mathis at the Philly Post. "Instead, what seemed to put off GOP supporters was the same thing that's always alarmed the rest of us about Michele Bachmann: She seemed just a little crazy."

At least she's honest, at least about her perspective, compared to the mainstream GOPs brand of winning people over. Let's not change our beliefs, let's just change our message to make our beliefs seem more palatable.

My MIL had a recent run in with Bachmann down in DC that she told me about over Easter dinner yesterday. My MIL was leading a tour group of elementary school kids and Bachmann was in the place they were touring. One of the kids asked Bachmann what she did for a living..... so in response she launched into a rant about Obama and the Democrats' agenda and how evil it was...

Let's just say that the kind of class she displayed didn't really change my opinion of her much.

verbaltoxin:Would some farker over in Blaine, Anoka or St. Cloud kindly inform us as to what the f*ck your problem is?

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When my mother in law told me about her recent run-in with Ms. Bachmann I said something similar. "She keeps getting elected though... What's up with your peeps back in MN? Tell them to quit voting for her!"

Apparently despite the gerrymandering her last election was a close one, so they're hoping she won't last much longer. I'm not so optimistic.

The interesting thing to me about all this is that people like Bachmann and Santorum and Perry are going to make the GOP's attempts at rebranding fail pretty miserably. If half or two-thirds of the party decide that gay marriage is inevitable so they should stop talking about it, and the remaining fraction keeps right on proclaiming that God'll smite us for not shaming gays straight, the Republican party's image as the anti-gay party isn't going anywhere. If half the Republicans decide to push for immigration reform as part of an outreach to minorities, and the rest keep dropping rhetorical bombs about 'those people' stealing our jobs, then their image among their target audience isn't going to change.

If your rebranding strategy relies on having your party stop talking about unpopular things, you need an overwhelming majority of your members to be on-board or it won't work.

Dog Welder:The problem, though, is that they believe those "unpopular things" are things they are 100% correct on and they just need to communicate those things to people better. See? Problem solved!

So instead of saying that they want to violently bend the government over the bed, anally rape it with austerity, throw grandma into the streets and grind you down as a worker with deregulation, the truth is rather

They want to closely examine the way Washington is not working for the middle class and pass a responsible budget that ensures the safety of programs all of us depends all the while floating the boat that is business by letting the water trickle down into the economy pool.

verbaltoxin:Would some farker over in Blaine, Anoka or St. Cloud kindly inform us as to what the f*ck your problem is?

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As a farker in St. Cloud, I must point out that just because a majority of this disctrict voted for her doesn't mean everyone voted for her. I sure as hell didn't. Maybe we'll finally kick her out next time.

It's almost as if Bachmann were a Democratic mole embedded in the Republican Party with the purpose of chasing away a wide range of voters.

I love how Republicans blame everything - even their own lunatics - on Democrats. Ok GOP, let's say you're right. Keep in mind the plan would only work if crazy nutjob Bachmann was plausible as a Republican.

The Why Not Guy:It's almost as if Bachmann were a Democratic mole embedded in the Republican Party with the purpose of chasing away a wide range of voters.

I love how Republicans blame everything - even their own lunatics - on Democrats. Ok GOP, let's say you're right. Keep in mind the plan would only work if crazy nutjob Bachmann was plausible as a Republican.

and batshiat crazy GOP voters would vote for her more than the other guy...

The Why Not Guy:I love how Republicans blame everything - even their own lunatics - on Democrats. Ok GOP, let's say you're right. Keep in mind the plan would only work if crazy nutjob Bachmann was plausible as a Republican.

I don't think the author was seriously blaming Michelle Bachmann on liberals; I think the point is that she is so batshiat insane she might as well be a liberal plant.

zero7717:verbaltoxin: Would some farker over in Blaine, Anoka or St. Cloud kindly inform us as to what the f*ck your problem is?

[upload.wikimedia.org image 635x379]

As a farker in St. Cloud, I must point out that just because a majority of this disctrict voted for her doesn't mean everyone voted for her. I sure as hell didn't. Maybe we'll finally kick her out next time.

I vaguely remember a friend of mine from the area saying something about St. Cloud State being the subject of a vicious debate/lawsuit on racism, but the Googles are sparse with details. Any idea what would have been going on in the late 90s-early 2000s?